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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Jeddah - Arábia Saudita

Já de regresso a Lisboa, está também de volta o blog para relatar o que ainda ficou por contar. A mudança de base da nossa tripulação para Jeddah e as restrições impostas pelas autoridades sauditas na internet, trouxeram algumas dificuldades técnicas. Por outro lado, o aumento da frequência com que começámos a voar, deixou pouco tempo para grandes textos.Already back in Lisbon, the blog is also back to share what was still untold about this Hajj operation. With the change of the base of our crew to Jeddah, internet restrictions imposed by Saudi Arabia authorities brought some technical limitations. Also, with the increasing frequency of our flights, few spare time was left to write big descriptions.

Da última vez que estive em Abuja (e foi apenas em trânsito pois já estávamos baseados em Jeddah), o avião teve de parar algumas horas para realizar uma inspecção T2. Durante a inspecção aproveitei o tempo morto e o facto de se ter alguma liberdade na placa para tirar umas fotografias à máquina que faz mover a nossa companhia! Antes, mostro mais algum do tráfego que se vê por aquelas bandas.Last time I was in Abuja (and that was only in transit because we were already based in Jeddah), our aircraft had to stop for a couple of hours to perform a T2 inspection. During that inspection, I enjoyed the free time and some freedom to move on the tarmac, to take some photos of our beautiful flying machine! But before that, I'm showing some of the traffic that can be seen in Abuja Airport.

Actuador hidráulico de um dos trens principaisHydraulic actuator of the left MLG

Reactor | Engine #1

LUZair

Nariz do L-1011L-1011's nose

"Sunrise, sunrise, looks like morning over your wings"

-o0o-Abuja - Kaduna

Terminada a inspecção, seguiríamos para Kaduna buscar mais peregrinos para levá-los até Jeddah. Sem passageiros na cabine, tive o privilégio de ter sido convidado pelo cockpit para assistir ao voo de cerca de 1 hora, no lugar do 1º observador!As soon as the inspection was over, we flew empty to Kaduna where we picked up more pilgrims to take them to Jeddah. During this short leg without passengers in the cabin, I was invited to seat in the cockpit the whole flight, occupying the 1st observer seat!

Durante o taxi para a pista em uso, pude fotografar a partir do cockpit alguns dos aviões abandonados em Abuja aos quais já tinha aqui feito referência.During our taxi to the runway in use, I could photograph some of the abandoned aircraft in Abuja to which I made reference before.

Durante a aproximação final, tomei a ousadia de me libertar do shoulder harness ficando preso apenas pelo cinto na cintura para poder ver o lever dos spoilers em acção como função de um dos sistemas únicos do L-1011: o Direct Lift Control. Após selecção de flaps 33, os spoilers modulam num range de 20º de forma a controlar a razão de descida do L-1011 sem alterações na atitude de cabragem do avião. Os inputs dados pelos pilotos no manche repercutem-se automaticamente na deflecção dos spoilers! É um sistema da Lockheed importado do Space Shuttle para maior precisão no seguimento da ladeira de descida!During our final approach to Kaduna, I dared to free myself from the shoulder harness while leaving the waist belt fastened. This way I could see the movement of the air brakes/spoilers lever being actuated by one of the unique systems of the L-1011: the Direct Lift Control. After 33º flaps selection, spoilers would modulate within a range of 20º deflection in order to control the rate of descent without significant pitch changes. I think I read this system was imported from the Space Shuttle for a better precision when following the descent flight path!

Aterragem igualmente segura em Kaduna e assim que livramos a pista damos com locais a cumprimentar o nosso avião à beira do taxiway: o aeroporto não está vedado! Aceno em retribuição!Safe landing in Kaduna and as soon as we vacated the runway we saw some locals waving at us. There are no fences around the airport!

Por último, as rotações da nossa tripulação já não contemplevam a ida a Abuja onde estava baseada a manutenção e as restantes duas tripulações. Os voos eram sempre iguais. Seguíamos vazios de Jeddah para Kaduna com duração aproximada de 5:10 e trazíamos peregrinos na segunda perna de 4:30, diferença justificada pela predominância dos ventos. O avião enchia sempre com 308 passageiros. Felizmente e para descanso dos tripulantes de cabine, em Kaduna, toda a bagagem dos passageiros ia para o bulk, excepto quando era excedida a sua capacidade.Lastly, our crew's rotations didn't include Abuja where maintenance and the other crews were still based. The flights were always the same. We would fly empty out of Jeddah to Kaduna with an approximate duration of 5h10 and we would bring the pilgrims on the second leg which had an average 4h30 of flight time - this difference being due to the prevailing winds. When not on position flights, our aircraft was always filled completely with 308 passengers (plus two ground engineers). Fortunately for cabin crew members, in Kaduna, all passenger's baggage would go to the bulk (except when its capacity was exceeded).

Descanso do pessoal do handling de Kaduna

... enquanto o avião é reabastecidoGround staff taking a rest under the wing... while the airplane is refuelled

Em Jeddah, como B1 era sempre responsável pelo desembarque. Uma das imagens que mais me marcou foi ver peregrinas descerem as escadas sentadas. Não sei se por dificuldade de locomoção ou por não estarem habituadas a tão grandes lanços. Possivelmente, em Kaduna, subiram-nas de gatas! Mas aí o embarque era sempre efectuado pela porta L1 do R/C. Deparei-me ainda com passageiros PRM que simplesmente não as conseguiam descer tendo os responsáveis do handling optado pela cadeirinha humana. Esta situação não deixa de ser curiosa dado que só estão obrigados a ir a Meca todos os muçulmanos fisicamente aptos.Segundo um dos intérpretes que nos acompanhavam nos voos, estes peregrinos pagam 3000USD cada, pelo bilhete de avião e pela estadia na Arábia Saudita. Conseguem o dinheiro criando e vendendo gado durante uma vida inteira. Alguns vão mais do que uma vez a Meca.At Jeddah Airport, occupying the B1 position meant that I was always responsible for the disembark of the passengers (door L2). One of the most striking images was seeing a female pilgrim descending the stairs, sitting at each step. Problably she crawled upstairs when she boarded at Kaduna! But at Kaduna boarding was always through door L1, so I didn't see her doing that. I also witnessed other passengers that simply could not walk down the steps and they had to be carried in the arms of handling staff. This is a curious situation since only the physically able Muslims must make this Pilgrimage once in their lifetime.According to one of the translators, these pilgrims are paying 3000USD each for the ticket and for the stay in Saudi Arabia. They earn that money by raising and selling cattle during a whole life. Some of them make this journey more than once.Nos últimos voos fui promovido a E1, responsável da Aft Galley do L-1011. A seguir à posição de Chefe de Cabine, este é provavelmente o lugar de maior responsabilidade no avião. Como o serviço não era propriamente complicado, estes voos foram ideais para ganhar alguma experiência nesta posição.In the last flights I was promoted to E1, the master position of the Aft Galley of the L-1011. Probably the second most important position after the Purser. The E1 element is responsible to coordinate the cabin service in Economy Class. Because the Hajj service was not that complicated, these were the perfect flights to gain some experience in that position.

The E1 preboarding checklist defines that one of my responsibilities is to guarantee that all seats in cabin C have life vests and safety cards. It is frequent to find life vests out of their pouches because many pilgrims want to see them during the safety demonstrations.

Another procedure of mine is to reduce the cabin lights during take-off and landing at night. That way, in case of an emergency the eyes of the occupants will get more easily adjusted to the dark in the exterior side.

All these lights are regulated by rheostats which allow to continuously and smoothly control their intensity, against what we see in Airbus aircraft which only have a few discrete positions to regulate their intensity.

Painel de controlo de luzes de cabine do E1Light controls on the Aft Attendant Panel

The aisle lights are only adjustable through the Foward Attendant Panel. Normally these are the only lights we leave switched on during night flights, after the main meal service. They illuminate the path of the aisles without causing discomfort to the passengers that want to sleep.

The last time we flew to Kaduna, there was a 747 (probably of Hellenic Imperial Airways) and almost for sure it was with its APU inop since we could ear one of the engines running while passengers were boarding. Our own APU was replaced in Lisbon before our departure to Nigeria, being very useful - essential, I would say - for this type of operation.

In Jeddah, before our last Jeddah-Kaduna-Jeddah rotation, we had the visit of some euroAtlantic airways' colleagues whose 757 was parked just in front of our L-1011. Some of them were impressed with the spacious cabin of our aircraft in comparison with their narrow and exiguous 757.

After 20 days of service, it was time to return to Lisboa. Our crew was the one on duty on this JED-LIS flight, where all the crew members assigned for the first phase of the Hajj were also on board.

Com 6:36 de voo, à vertical do rio Tejo, já na final da pista 03, borrachas ao vento e aterragem irrepreensivelmente suave. Ouvem-se palmas da tripulação e manifestações de alegria pelo regresso a casa. O nosso CS-TMP ficou estacionado no stand Bravo 02. Na navette para o terminal, o Comandante Instrutor pediu palmas para a aterragem da First Officer em treino, pedido imediatamente atendido e inteiramente merecido.After 6h36 of flight time, already over river Tejo, on final approach to runway 03, landing gear down and a perfectly smooth landing. Some clapping of crew members can be heard as a demonstration of happiness to be back home after such a long time away. Our L-1011 CS-TMP was parked in stand B02. Inside the navette on our way to the airport terminal the captain (and also a flight instructor) asked for more clapping for the first landing in the type of our First Officer which was still in her training course.

Na zona da alfândega, deparamo-nos com a surpresa do nosso chefe do Depto. de Escalas vestido de Africano/Muçulmano com o logotipo da nossa companhia impresso numa folha A4 na mão, à nossa espera! Todos soltamos umas valentes gargalhadas e agradecemos a original recepção!À saída do terminal lembro-me que estamos em plena época Natalícia e sinto na pele o choque térmico entre duas regiões distintas do globo.After passing the customs, we had our Crewing Dept. Manager waiting for us, wearing a typical Muslim dress and showing a paper sheet with a printed logo of our company! We all laughed and thanked for the original reception!After I got out of the terminal I had a wake up call because it's already Christmas season and I can feel the thermal shock between two distinct regions of the globe.

Este tipo de aviação irregular em empresas de pequena dimensão é sem dúvida um dos mais genuínos que pode existir.O Hajj, apesar de nem sempre lidarmos com situações fáceis ou particularmente agradáveis, é uma experiência extremamente enriquecedora e marcante na vida de um aeronauta.This kind of small ad hoc airlines give us the most genuine experiences in aviation one can have. Although a Hajj operation is very demanding and not always we have pleasant situations, it's an extraordinary, invaluable and enriching experience that each of us will certainly remember till the end of our lives.Uma palavra também para o nosso avião, um verdadeiro guerreiro que praticamente nunca parou nestes 21 dias da primeira fase do Hajj. O L-1011-500 é um avião que passados 25 anos continua a fazer história em Portugal e a provar que velhos são os trapos.And let us not forget our old worrier that flew almost continuously during these 21 days. Our L-1011-500 with 25 years on its wings is still making history in Portugal and proving to be a very capable airplane.